products

Fourth-generation voice codec

Qualcomm's Fourth-Generation Vo-coder, or 4GV, is a voice codec suite for CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO networks that increases network capacity by up to 40% in narrowband applications and improves voice quality in both wideband and voice-over-IP applications, where delay is an issue, the company said. Trials of the 4GV are scheduled to begin in the second half of this year, with commercial application of the technology expected in 2006.www.qualcomm.com

RELM Wireless's BK Radio Series V Project 25-compliant digital base stations are capable of transmitting and receiving voice-over-IP signals. The new capability extends the communication area of the radios and enables remote access and control, the company said.www.relmwireless.com

Updated antenna-pattern software

Radio Waves' RW UltimateGraph version 1.05 antenna-pattern software lets users users display microwave antenna patterns on their computer screen and print hard copies for reference. The software also lets users overlay FCC Category A or Category B masks over the antenna patterns and provides simpler management of FCC overlays and additional antenna-pattern options. The software can be downloaded at no charge from the company's Web site.www.radiowaves.com

The solution uses the radio frequency fingerprinting capabilities of the company's Wireless Control System to locate authorized or unauthorized 802.11-enabled devices — including laptops, personal digital assistants, voice-over-wireless-LAN handsets, rogue access points, and clients and devices equipped with 802.11 RF identification tags — to within a few meters. It has a U.S. list price of $14,995 and is scheduled to ship this month.www.cisco.com

Computers leverage Windows Mobile 5.0

Intermec Technologies' CN30 and CK60 mobile computers now feature Microsoft's newly released Windows Mobile 5.0 operating software. The modular CN30 is designed to perform in-store retail computing tasks, while the CK60 is a more rugged mobile computer targeted to the direct-store-delivery market. Both will be available for delivery during the third quarter.

One of the problems with previous Windows-based operating systems was that all applications and documents on a computer's hard drive could be lost when the mobile unit's battery became depleted, forcing network managers to design systems to work around the problem. With the persistent storage memory included in Windows Mobile 5.0, battery drainage is less of a problem, the company said.www.intermec.com

RF spectrum management platform

Cognio's Intelligent Spectrum Management System (ISMS) lets enterprise network managers monitor and manage RF activity to ensure wireless LAN reliability. The ISMS combines RF spectrum monitoring and analysis with device monitoring and interference identification, which lets managers validate uptime and link quality, measure and tune network capacity, identify and isolate disturbances, and troubleshoot and locate problems. The system is available starting at $9995, including the console, server system, and two remote sensors.

In addition, Cognio plans to introduce a mobile version of the ISMS that will deliver full Layer 1 (RF) visibility for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks to let WLAN administrators troubleshoot and resolve the most common physical layer problems wireless networks encounter.www.cognio.com

Next-generation digital signal processors

Freescale Semiconductor's MSC8122 and MSC8126 digital signal processors are the first multi-core programmable DSPs produced using 90 nanometer process technology on a volume scale, the company said.

The MSC8122 and MSC8126 DSPs integrate four StarCore DSP cores onto a single die and are designed to quadruple performance over single-core DSP offerings. Target markets for the DSPs include radio network controllers and high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) support for base stations.www.freescale.com

Enterprise satellite broadband packages

Hughes Network Systems' enterprise-level broadband packages are de-signed to be competitive with terrestrial alternatives for providing businesses a complementary service to ensure that their employees maintain high-speed access when a primary access system is unavailable. Hughes is offering six plans that provide enterprises with data rates between 130 kb/s and 2 Mb/s at fixed monthly costs that typically range between $40 and $100.www.hns.com